How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?

A social group in society consists of many factors. A social group could be either a subculture which is a social group within a national culture that has distinctive patterns of behaviours and beliefs e.g. Gangs. This subculture may consist of fashion, clothing, hairstyle, lifestyle, gender etc... The subculture also may consist of a counterculture that runs to subvert oppression.

In a subculture a collective identity if formed, through this collective identity the social group has a sense of ‘one-ness’, thus has got a member ship in the social group and has a sense of togetherness. Examples of two different social groups would be in the films Rebel without a cause & Kidulthood.

In rebel without a cause the social group’s ideology was being a rebel. The social group in the film were very loud and intermediating, also showed a lot of delinquent behaviour, with no respect for others. The social group are all young teenagers that smoke, drink, have a certain colloquialism and are very carefree as they meet up in the middle of the night to play dangerous games. This therefore gives a negative stereotypes of teenagers, thus represents young people in negative way. James Dean’s character in the film shows the dissonance of youth as he wants to be part of that social group as he is rebellious, but yet is confused whether he thinks it’s right or not.
At the beginning of the film the social group was represented in a carefree, loud and hyped up group of young people having fun, however, when the character dies in a horrible accident half way through the film, the representation of the social group changes as they are less carefree and loud. This sudden chance came from a death of a friend. Nevertheless, the social group still carried on being rebellious by breaking into a house and still being violent with one another. Near the end of the film, another boy dies by getting shot and from this incident the representation of James Dean’s character and the social group changes as he wants to become less rebellious and asks for help from his dad, thus his innocence comes out.

In Kidulthood there is one type of subculture, but within that subculture involves different social groups. These social groups have certain things in common, for example, drugs, alcohol, partying, acts of violence, arguments, shopping, wooing girls etc... In Kidulthood teenagers are showed in a negative stereotypical representation due to the events that occur in the film. Through binary oppositions of age/gender the social groups create their collective identity.
At the end of Kidulthood there is a fight between 2 people in different social groups, the crowd cheers on when they are fighting, however, when one of the characters is badly injured and dies, the crowd becomes silent and sad, thus the social groups representation in the film changes from the start to the end.

Social groups are linked with Henri Tafjel’s social identity theory as he believed that individuals strive to improve their self image by trying to enhance their self esteem base on either personal identity or various social identities. He argued that there is a distinct ‘in group’ and ‘out group’ which is developed from ‘in group’ favouritism and ‘out group’ discrimination. The individuals, self esteem is maintaining by being part of the ‘in group’. This links with both Kidulthood and Rebel without a cause because in Kidulthood a girl commits suicide because she gets bullied, this shows that she was in the ‘out group’ thus her self esteem was very low which also would link with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Therefore, with her low self esteem and her being part of the ‘out group’ being isolated and bullied she committed suicide. On the other hand, the boy that is James Dean’s best friend was in the ‘out group’ as he was always alone and isolated from others, however, after he became friends with James Dean in the film he became partly part of the ‘In group’ as he went with them to the race and also has a friend with whom he identifies with.

Richard Jenkins believed we need to interact in order to form our identity/social groups. From these interactions a collective identity is create and then from this a whole social group and maybe a subculture. This relates back to the two films as they both have young people interacting with one another if not through technology such as mobile phones then by going around to each other’s houses and going out. Therefore, through interaction and social skills people form their social groups.

People a born with a basic identity but soon develop a collective identity with others, and then we change that personality depending on who we meet. This was Michel Foucault’s theory on collective identity, and this links with the change in social group’s overtime. This is because over time when people grow up their personality changes and they become more sophisticated and therefore, they may change social groups depending on what path they take.

Thus, to conclude, I believe that the representation of social groups change due to a dramatic incident that may occur in the social group which makes people within that social group change in a certain way. Also, over time social groups would change as people choose different paths and go their separate ways to create new social groups and their representation would completely change.

How do young people form their collective identity through reality TV?

Young people form their collective identity through varies different aspects in reality TV. The 2 different realities TV shows that I am going to compare is Geordie Shore and Made in Chelsea, these 2 shows are reality based programmes with young people with 2 different collective identities.

Michel Foucault had a range of theories and he stated that as a society, we have constructed he idea that people’s identities are the person we are on the inside. We believe this is defined by factors such as gender, age, class, sexuality. We are looking at this specifically in reference to youth. Michel Foucault said that we are born with a basic identity but we develop our collective identity when we get older and also we change it as we get old. Thus, we therefore, mediate that personality based on whom we meet; we do this during our discourse. Foucault therefore believes that it can be limiting for what actually develops is a stereotypical group and people then begin to make assumptions, forming a collective identity.

In Geordie shore the characters have their collective identity through what they do, how they are dressed. The way that Geordie shore characters act, it gives a stereotypical view to the media and the audience of how young people are and the ways they act. Geordie shore character shave identified with themselves from what they do and how they dress, as they all dress similarly and the things they do are similar, for example, the lads in the programme are always out to find girls when going clubbing. Also they have identified with one another through colloquialism (the way they talk) as they are all from Newcastle and have the same accent. Geordie shore also create their collective identity through participating in social activities, for example, they go clubbing often, to the beach, and they are often wild, they get drunk and basically live a wild life, thus through this they create their collective identity.

In Made in Chelsea the characters have their collective identity through their elegance, fortune and their pre-determined status as they are all rich. Their high status gives them a collective identity and also the things they do, for example, the girls love to shop in their expensive branded stores and have a common interest in clothing. This therefore, would give them a stereotypical view as well and also their collective identity.

Thus, to conclude, young people form their collective identity through Michel Foucault’s theory, as they identify with people who have the same common interests as them and whom they can form a bond with easily.

What extent does social media/digital media give us a sense of belonging and a ‘collective identity’?

Social media gives us a sense of belonging as it allows teens to explore and expand their identity. It gives teens a collective identity as the Henry Jenkins theory states that teens constantly update and customize their profiles online and these activities can also allow teens to construct and experiment with their identity.

A collective identity is a sense of ‘one-ness’. It is like a membership in a social group that is collective and has a sense of togetherness. Therefore, social networks such as Facebook and twitter give teens a collective identity as they may be a group of people that like a certain band or artist.

Michael Foucault said that social media is a surveillance in society and is used as a form of social organisation. This therefore, is stating that other is constantly watching teen’s social lives from family to friends. This can also relate back to the London riots as they say that due to social networking many young teenagers got together and decided to riot.

“Identity is complicated – everybody thinks they’ve got one’ this was stated by David Gauntlett, this therefore means that everyone’s identity is complex, however, if someone lives in a communist country, then their identities is said to be the same, as they would have to follow the same rules. For example, China is a communist country as they can only have one child and have to follow certain rules; therefore, they have no identity. This supports the Marxism theory that was started by Karl Marx; it is a communist theory that determines that all members of society will be governed by work and in a class less system. All members of society must follow a governed viewpoint – they must follow the rules, drive the same car, live the same life and we must hold a common perception of each other. Thus, stating that no one would have an identity if they lived like that.

Not only does social media/digital media give us a sense of belonging but it also requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups according to David Buckingham. Therefore, social media requires us to be cautious to what we do, for example, for celebrities, the social media/digital media at times gives them a sense of belonging and collective identity, however, when they do something wrong, then the media turns against them and make them look bad.

Social media/digital media also gives us a sense of a social identity, as the media is all around us.  Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, MSN etc… are all types of social identities as many people use those sites. Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory assumes that individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to enhance their self-esteem, based on either personal identity or various social identities. Also he argues that there is a distinct ‘in group’ and an ‘out-group’. This is developed in ‘in group’ favouritism and ‘out group’ discrimination. The individuals self – esteem is marinating by being part of the ‘in group’. Therefore, social media gives people a social identity and from there people start to form social groups in which they identify with.

Through social media/digital media subculture and counter cultures are formed, as a social group within a national culture that has distinctive patterns of behaviour and belief are called subcultures. Therefore, people have they own group, which they have identified with, and have a similar identity. A counter culture is a group that runs a counter culture to subvert oppression.

Thus to conclude, social media/ digital media gives us a sense of belonging and a collective identity to a certain extent.